There are a few reasons his clients call Paul Anthony Calgary’s best personal trainer, and one of those is that he regularly debunks some of the crazy fitness myths out there.

Today, Paul discusses some of the top myths about cardio that are found in gyms and across the Internet, and sets the record straight for anyone looking to take their fitness to the next level, get strong, and work towards that Dreambody!

So, here are Paul Anthony’s Top 5 Cardio Myths:

Myth #1 – Weight loss comes from cardio, not from strength training.

That just isn’t true. In fact, research has shown that strength training burns way more calories than cardio does! That’s partly because over time – and he doesn’t mean a long time – strength training is better at hyping up your metabolism than cardio, so you’ll be burning more calories even at rest.

Myth #2 – Strength training isn’t a cardio exercise.

Wrong again! Research by the American Council on Exercise showed that doing exercise with a kettlebell could burn upwards of 20 calories per minute, which is about the same as running at pace for a six-minute mile. Other really great strength training workouts that double as cardio (with more benefits than cardio alone) include TRX and weightlifting.

Myth #3 – You should do cardio before weights.

That’s not necessarily true, because if you wear yourself out on the treadmill or the elliptical, you’ll have little juice left for picking up the dumbbells or sweating it out on the machines. Instead, make the strength training portion of your workout your focus. If you feel you need to do cardio, use it as a warm up or consider doing it at the end of your routine.

Myth #4 – Your cardio goal should be a certain number of calories.

Let’s be real: cardio machines at the gym get a lot of action during the day, and they don’t know your body all that well. So making a goal of burning 500 calories on the treadmill for your cardio workout isn’t just a pain in the butt, it’s probably wrong. Even if you’re monitoring your heart rate (although holding onto the handles on the treadmill impedes your workout), the machine doesn’t get a sense of your metabolic rate and could give you an inaccurate calorie count.

Myth #5 – If you do a lot of cardio, you can eat whatever you want.

This is a fatal error that so many people make. Here’s the thing: cardio machines often overestimate how many calories we burn during a workout, and we generally underestimate the number of calories we eat in a meal. In fact, lots of people who do a ton of cardio can even gain weight when they get the idea that they need a ton of fuel in order to get through a huge cardio session. The right balance of nutrition, strength training and cardio is key to weight loss success and feeling great about your body!

Ready to get started? Contact Paul Anthony today so he can start building you an online personal training program today.